


i came across a fallen tree, i felt the branches of it looking at me (is this the place we used to love? is this the place that i've been dreaming of?)

by lovelyflowersinherhair



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Camp Riverdale Challenge, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Mentioned Fred Andrews, Tumblr: riverdale-events
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-23
Updated: 2019-08-24
Packaged: 2020-09-24 13:40:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,155
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20359417
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lovelyflowersinherhair/pseuds/lovelyflowersinherhair
Summary: FP Jones and Alice Cooper haven't spoken since the Homecoming Dance their senior year of high school. So when she shows up at the Whyte Wyrm one evening, her eight year old daughter in tow, he knows that he should send her away. She left the Serpents. She picked the Northside over them.But, well, the girl is friends with the boy, and FP never liked that pompous ass Alice married. And it's not like any of the other Serpents are doing him any favors lately. And what was that old saying again?Snakes don't shed their skins so easily.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story is for the Riverdale Events Camp Riverdale event. It is for the Ememies to Friends to Lovers trope. It is AU.

FP had been doing important office business -- okay, FP had been soundly asleep in his office behind a locked door, but who was he going to admit that to? -- when the growing din that was coming from the bar of the Wyrm had reached an excessively dull roar, and he had decided that as the Serpent King, such behavior was unacceptable. Hadn’t he made it perfectly clear he needed ninety minutes of quiet? He had been certain that he had. 

The office was on the second floor of the bar, which meant that FP was afforded a perfect view of what the idiots -- sorry, he meant fellow gang members -- were doing in his immediate absence, and to say that the sight displeased him was putting it mildly. He didn’t know what Alice Cooper and the younger Cooper girl were doing at the bar in the middle of the damn night, but he knew that there had to be some sort of reasoning for it, even if it was one that he didn’t entirely understand. The boy was being sat for by two of the...less taxing members of the Serpents, and he sighed inwardly at the lecture that was sure to come. Had Alice found out about what the elder Cooper girl was doing? Mustang and Tall Boy had acted independently of him, and independently of their common sense. 

There was no way in hell that he would have started letting a child of Clifford Blossom’s do drug runs for him. Especially not one that was dating Alice’s daughter. Alice may not have been assed to give FP the time of day, not since she’d moved to the Northside, but he still had some sort of principles. 

The idiots were bitching about Alice being a damn turncoat, which made no sense given that he was sure that they would have gladly turned on the gang on a dime if it was to their benefit. He knew they were just angry Alice had managed to succeed. 

It was still ridiculous. 

“Enough,” FP said, his tone rough, but no nonsense, and he pushed through the crowd of morons that had crowded around the unfortunate visitor to the Wyrm, her presence illustrating that he surrounded himself with a group of absolute morons, and he was unsurprised to see that Mustang and Tall Boy were in the midst of the throng. “Why are you crowding the woman? The girl. Step aside.” 

“It’s the Turncoat,” Tall Boy whined, and FP felt his patience wane, though he was operating on a short fuse as of late. Gladys had turned tail and left him and the boy, along with the girl who was still in the NICU, with barely a note goodbye. Fred had come short on payroll yet again and had taken the money that should have been FP’s, and given it to the guys on the crew, which would have been fine had he not pocketed his own salary. “Why are you _ defending _ her?”   


“I said, that’s enough, and I won’t repeat myself again, so, if you know what’s good for you, you’ll be quiet, Tall Boy. I know perfectly well who my visitors are, and I don’t appreciate you and Mustang trying to _ manhandle _ them.” He ran his hands through his hair. “And if you call Alice the Turncoat one more time, it will be the _ last _ thing either of you do, do I make myself clear?” 

“That’s what she is--”

“I said to shut up!” FP thundered, and he pushed himself past the group of idiots and shoved Tall Boy in the chest, before he grabbed on to the asshole’s shirt front. “I don’t care what you think about Alice, or what you think about the choices she made,” he spat. “I’m the King here, not you, and if you continue to disrespect me, you’ll be out of the damn gang. And that goes for any of you!”

If it hadn’t been for the girl -- Jughead’s friend Elizabeth -- FP would have curb stopped both Mustang and Tall Boy then and there, but he didn’t want to scare the child. If he started scaring Jughead’s friends then the boy would have very little to enjoy in life, and he didn’t want that. The fact that he was reasonably sure that Alice would filet him and feed him at one of her Northside barbeques if he traumatized Elizabeth went without saying. He was an unwilling gang leader, sure, but he wasn’t a moron. 

“Why don’t all of you find something better to do with your time?” It wasn’t a suggestion. “I’ll handle this from here.” He scrubbed a hand over his face. “Come on, Alice. Why don’t we go to the office?” He glanced down at Elizabeth. “This bar’s not a place for a little girl.” 

Whatever the hell it was that Alice needed, the fact that she had dragged Elizabeth over in her pajamas (and the fact that Alice herself was in her pajamas) and brought her to the Wyrm of all places took precedence over the fact that they had over a decade of bad blood between them. The girl looked to be in an absolute state of shock. 

“Come on, Betty,” he said quietly. “It’s okay. I have some videos that you can watch on the TV in there while your mom and I talk.”

“Mom?” The word sounded foreign on the girl’s tongue. Her tone was hoarse. “Am I allowed to watch television?” 

Alice stared straight ahead. 

“Mom?” 

“Alice?” FP tried. “Elizabeth is wondering if you’re okay with her watching TV.” 

“Not if she’s okay,” the girl said, her tone hushed. “It’s my dad--he always wants me to be--”

“I don’t care what you do,” Alice said after a moment. “He’s a...he’s a nonissue, Elizabeth. He won’t ever hurt you again. Your...Margaret won’t ever hurt you again. I told you. That we’d be safe here.” 

“Alice--”  


“You said we could talk in your office, didn’t you?” 

“You said you were the only one allowed in there--”

“I said to shut up, Mustang,” he hissed. “Maybe if you all weren’t such asses to someone who did the damn initiation, and to her fucking damn kid, we wouldn’t be having conversations in my office. And for what it’s worth? I don’t think I like you.”

Elizabeth giggled. “That’s a funny name,” she said. “Mustang. And they must like all the coats Mama had.”  


“Elizabeth--”  


“Had? What do you mean?”

“Nothing, FP,” Alice said. “Just a little...accident, that’s all.” 

“It _ wasn’t _ an accident,” the girl insisted. “Polly did it on purpose. She told me. Just like--”   


“Come on, Betty,” FP said, and he scooped her up. “I’m sure your mother would much rather Polly’s escapades aren’t detailed for everyone in the Wyrm to dissect. Let’s just go upstairs and talk in private.” 

“Thank you, FP.” 

“Are you sure? You’ll believe me? Dad never does.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alice felt herself flush. “It was an accident that that happened,” she insisted. “Polly isn’t some sort of pyromanic--”

“I want to know what the hell it is that you two were thinking?” Hal demanded of Polly and Cheryl as they sat in a holding cell, handcuffed to the bench. “Lighting your mothers’ houses on fire? What the hell is wrong with the two of you? Do you even know where your mother and Betty went, Margaret? Does anyone have any idea?” 

“Probably into her den of snakes,” Polly said, her lack of repentance blatant. “You think that I don’t know about her? About how she ran with the wrong crowd in high school? I do things for that gang that Mom would have never  _ dreamed _ of doing, and it’s all thanks to Jason and his dad. Soon enough the Serpents will have no choice but to go along with the Sugarman’s whims, and--”

“Have you forgotten that you are in a  _ holding cell,  _ handcuffed to a bench, in the police station? More importantly, have you forgotten that you’re not a  _ minor _ anymore? Either of you?” 

“I fail to see why that matters,” Cheryl said. “This was my dad’s idea. He doesn’t like how you ruined his perfect Blossom marriage, Cousin Hal. He was more than willing to allow me to hasten Mother’s demise. It’s just a pity that you came home and managed to drag her out of the house before she succumbed to her injuries.” 

“And I didn’t think Mom and Betty were in the house,” Polly added. “If I had--”

“I am so tired of this,” he said. “Your mother and I were unhappy in our marriage, Polly, and you know that. This behavior that you have been displaying for years does not help anything, whether it is trying to involve the citizens of this town in some hairbrained drug dealing plot of Clifford Blossom’s, or deciding to practically incinerate a damn residential block because--well amazingly enough I don’t know why, given that your thoughts and actions are inexplicable.” 

“And as for you, Cheryl, your mother and father’s relationship would have been like you and Jason being together,” Hal said. “Surely you understand why that was an inappropriate thing for your grandmother to do?”

Hal felt a tension headache coming on. 

“Jason and I are soulmates,” she purred. “I’m merely loaning him to Pollykins. On a temporary basis. So, yes, I do think that it was appropriate.” 

Hal drew in a deep breath. “Well, that’s your opinion, then.” He returned his gaze to Polly. “Your sister could have blown up in flames, you know that, right? Do you even care?”

“I’m just saving Betty from herself,” Polly said. “She’s going to end up like Mom. A loose woman who was too stupid to hang on to the only good relationship life ever gave her. She’s not like us, Dad. She’s too much like Mom.”

“She’s  _ eight  _ years old, Margaret.”

“You don’t think I know that? I know. These things start early, Dad.” 

“No, they don’t,” he said. “Your mother and I are a statistic, Polly. Us and half of the damn world. You don’t get to assign blame for what you did based on your mother’s blood.”

Was it true that Hal and Alice had married under questionable circumstances? Yes. Was it true that Betty had been a last ditch effort to save a floundering marriage? Also yes. Was it true that Polly had gone away to juvenile hall an only child and come back a big sister? Well, Harold supposed it was, but the punishment had fit the crime, and he frankly thought the light sentencing would eventually come back to bite the Sheriff in the rear. He was currently feeling vindicated. 

“I never asked for a sister,” Polly spat. “Why do I care that she could have died?”

“How can you say that?” 

“Easily, Dad. You two knew you fucked up with me, so you decided to try again. I bet that’s why you let Mom see that kid of hers she put up for adoption.”

“Your mother made a mistake, Polly,” Hal said. “If the boy wants to see her regardless, I wasn’t planning on stopping him.” 

“You should have,” she said. “He’s not ours. He’s got bad blood. I bet you don’t even know who his father is.” 

Hal knew damn well who the boy’s father was. He also knew it was none of Polly’s business, and that she was trying to distract him. 

“You burned down your house!” Hal thundered. “You burned down my  _ parents _ house. Because you were pissed off at your mother?” 

“I told you, Dad, it was an accident. We were just burning photos.” 

“With kerosene??? And excelerant?” Hal huffed. “I wasn’t born yesterday, Margaret Imogene Cooper.”   
  


“They’re  _ fine _ anyways, Dad. What’s the big deal? She can move back into the house once the Sheriff remembers who he’s dealing with.”

“Who precisely is that?” 

“You, duh. You’re not going to let us sit here, are you? Let him press charges against your own daughter and stepdaughter?” 

“That’s where you’re wrong,” he said. “I’ve spoken to the Sheriff. The two of you are adults, and you should be tried as adults. Maybe then you’ll learn that burning things down isn’t acceptable behavior.” 

“But you’re bailing us out, right?”

“That wouldn’t teach you two anything.”

* * *

  
  


Betty had selected the movie of her choice, and she was happily watching it at a volume that Alice typically wouldn’t have approved of, while she was wearing holes in the already ragged carpet that covered the floor of FP’s office, entirely unsure of where to begin. Or what she was even doing there in the first place. 

“Will you stop?” FP demanded. “You’re making me dizzy. Obviously you came here for a reason,” he said. She watched as he crossed his arms. “Care to divulge what that reason was? Or at the very least sit down?” He gestured to the chair that was in front of his desk. “I don’t bite, much.” 

Alice sat down, though she was still on high alert. The decision that she’d made to come to the Wyrm wasn’t something that she had made lightly, it had been carefully calculated to ensure that she and Elizabeth had a safe place to land, one far away from the smouldering Colonial she had called home.

“Do you have any liquor?” 

“What do you want?” He pulled open a drawer in the desk. “Pick your poison.”

“I don’t care what you give me,” she said. “I just...would very much like to not be sober.” 

“You don’t care? Is that a challenge?” FP smirked. Alice wanted to smack the smug off his face. “How about rum? Don’t want to get you too drunk and scare the kid.” 

“I think if that gang of hoodlums didn’t frighten her, my having a drink certainly won’t.” She sighed. “I just--”

“I’m sorry about them, Alice,” he said, and she thought he even sounded sincere. “They shouldn’t have been giving you and the girl a hard time. No matter what issues I might have with you. Their behavior was obnoxious.”

“It’s fine. I knew that coming here was foolish,” she said. “I just...I didn’t have anywhere else to go.” 

FP lit a cigarette. “What about your prick of a husband?” 

“Apparently Penelope fits his needs more than I do.” She shrugged her shoulders. “I filed for a divorce.” 

“And he got angry and made you come here?” 

She shook her head. “No, that was Cheryl and Polly,” Alice said. “They claimed it was an accident. That they didn’t think burning those photos would get out of hand...the fire marshall said that it looked as if they’d doused the place in kerosene.” She sighed. “Obviously I couldn’t exactly stay in a burnt out shell of a home. I know I am one for pathos, but even for me that would be extreme.” 

“I thought about going to Fred, but to be honest I don’t like him much,” she sighed, and she ran her hands through her hair. “I think Archibald is a hideous influence on both my child and yours, and I practically saw the dollar signs appear in his eyes when he took a look at what was left of my property.” She rolled her eyes. “The joke’s on him, because I’ll take the damn check from the insurance and get the hell out of town before I give him a penny.” 

“He hasn’t been paying me,” FP said after a moment. “Claims that we don’t have the money to. Doesn’t have a problem paying himself, though.” 

“That’s Fred for you,” she sighed. “I came here because I had an offer for you.”

“Yeah?” FP asked, his brows furrowed. “I’m listening.”

“Elizabeth has told me that Gladys left,” she said, and she reached for his pack of smokes, taking one for herself, along with the light. “She is concerned about what is going to happen to Jellybean when she’s released from the hospital and you’re working.” Alice sighed. She took a drag from her cigarette. “I was wondering if you would rent out a room for us. I could pay you market value, and I would watch Jellybean for you. In return, you would give Elizabeth, and myself, Serpent protection.” 

“We take care of our own, Alice,” he said. “I don’t need your money.”

“I know that you don’t--”   
  


“But, I get that paying your way makes you feel better,” he said. “You ain’t the only one who has a sense of pride, you know? So if you want, you can pay me. For two rooms. One for each of you.” She watched as he scrubbed his hand across his face. “As for the girl...Jellybean. I don’t know when she’s getting out. They think it would be helpful to her if she had more visitors. I just can’t visit her enough during the day. I guess if you wanted to, that would be fine.”

“Are you sure?” 

“Yeah,” he said. “It’s not like you’d be less unpleasant than her damn mother for her to be around, now, would you?”

Alice wrinkled her nose. She wasn’t fond of Gladys Jones. Jellybean was better off without her there. There was nothing at all pleasant about her. 

“Thank you--”

“Tomorrow we’ll go around to your house?” He offered. “See what we can salvage?” 

“We can’t,” she sighed. “I mean. It’s not you. I wouldn’t care that you brought me or anything. It’s just that the house has been declared an active crime scene.” She took another drag of the cigarette. “Tom Keller thinks that it’s an act of arson. That Polly and Cheryl did it on purpose.” 

“In his defense,” FP said, as he lit up another smoke. “Didn’t Polly spend a year in Juvy? For burning down part of the elementary school?” 

Alice felt herself flush. “It was an  _ accident _ that that happened,” she insisted. “Polly isn’t some sort of pyromanic--”

“Mustang and Tall Boy have her and that redheaded moron that she’s dating running drops for them,” FP said. “I keep telling her I don’t want her doing them and she seems to think that I’m kidding. She’s crazy, Alice. You can see it in her eyes.” He drummed his fingers on the table. “And if even we leave her out of it, need I remind you that Cheryl is certifiable? Doesn’t she keep coming and going from that locked facility you Northsiders send their kids to?”

“The Sisters of Quiet Mercy?” Alice questioned. 

“Yeah,” he said. “Didn’t like it when you were sent there, not entirely certain I like it now. How’s the boy?” 

“He’s fine,” she said. “The last time I saw him he told me that he wanted to be a cop, of all things.” She pursed her lips. “He wants to see you.”

“Yeah, well, you tell him that that’s fine.” 

“What?” 

“He wants to see me, yeah? Maybe I’m ready to.” 

“If that’s what you want,” she said. “I don’t want to force you into something that you don’t want.”

  
  
  
  



End file.
